Swansea captain Ashley Williams is a wanted man at the moment. Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle and Liverpool are chasing the €12m-rated central defender, but when push comes to shove, it looks like the Reds may have the edge in this particular transfer battle.
According to a report today in The Mirror:
"Liverpool have emerged as favourites to land the defender.
"Williams has already indicated a preference for Anfield if he is allowed to leave in the summer".
Liverpool coach Brendan Rodgers made Williams captain during his time at Swansea, so he clearly thinks very highly of the Welsh international. Indeed, in an interview in May 2012, Rodgers claimed that the 28-year old is one of best defenders in the Premier League. He enthused:
"Ash is in the top four centre-halves in the country in my opinion. He has really impressed, he has stepped up to the mark and shown he can play at this level"
At the end of December 2012, Rodgers leapt to Williams' defence after He invoked the ire of Alex Ferguson after appearing to kick the ball at Robin Van Persie's head. Rodgers said:
"Knowing his character that won't have been intentional, and I think more has been made of it than what it actually was. I know the player well and it is just that split-second when you can see he is trying to clear the ball and unfortunately hits Van Persie right on the back of his head"
Williams is a rock-solid defender, and one of the best things about him is his superb fitness record, which is a direct contrast to the injury-plagued history of Daniel Agger:
* Williams averages 49 games a season over the last 5 years.
* never had a long-term injury.
If Williams does move to Anfield, his first task will be to win over is Luis Suarez, who he slated in his recently released book, 'My Premier League Diary' (Published on the 14th November)
In the book, Williams admits that that he 'truly dislikes' Suarez; ridicules his 'shocking' diving, and and accuses the Uruguayan of treating Swansea with 'utter contempt'. He scathes:
"He [Suarez] dived more than any other player I've played against before — it was so bad I was genuinely shocked. Throughout the game, he just dived down and screamed at any given moment. A couple of times I'd hear the scream, see him writhing on the floor and for the life of me couldn't see where the contact could have been."
Worth a bid?
Jaimie Kanwar NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
According to a report today in The Mirror:
"Liverpool have emerged as favourites to land the defender.
"Williams has already indicated a preference for Anfield if he is allowed to leave in the summer".
Liverpool coach Brendan Rodgers made Williams captain during his time at Swansea, so he clearly thinks very highly of the Welsh international. Indeed, in an interview in May 2012, Rodgers claimed that the 28-year old is one of best defenders in the Premier League. He enthused:
"Ash is in the top four centre-halves in the country in my opinion. He has really impressed, he has stepped up to the mark and shown he can play at this level"
At the end of December 2012, Rodgers leapt to Williams' defence after He invoked the ire of Alex Ferguson after appearing to kick the ball at Robin Van Persie's head. Rodgers said:
"Knowing his character that won't have been intentional, and I think more has been made of it than what it actually was. I know the player well and it is just that split-second when you can see he is trying to clear the ball and unfortunately hits Van Persie right on the back of his head"
Williams is a rock-solid defender, and one of the best things about him is his superb fitness record, which is a direct contrast to the injury-plagued history of Daniel Agger:
* Williams averages 49 games a season over the last 5 years.
* never had a long-term injury.
If Williams does move to Anfield, his first task will be to win over is Luis Suarez, who he slated in his recently released book, 'My Premier League Diary' (Published on the 14th November)
In the book, Williams admits that that he 'truly dislikes' Suarez; ridicules his 'shocking' diving, and and accuses the Uruguayan of treating Swansea with 'utter contempt'. He scathes:
"He [Suarez] dived more than any other player I've played against before — it was so bad I was genuinely shocked. Throughout the game, he just dived down and screamed at any given moment. A couple of times I'd hear the scream, see him writhing on the floor and for the life of me couldn't see where the contact could have been."
Worth a bid?
Jaimie Kanwar NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
He's too old FSG won't allow it..
ReplyDeleteWe don't want him.
ReplyDeleteHe's a big fish in a small pond, put him in bigger waters he'll look distinctly average. Pass.
ReplyDeleteThere is better
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Williams will soon forget his principles if the chance to double his wages comes along.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing about Williams is he a no nonsense defender, he's a big built hard to push off the ball.... Would be good against stoke side type players.....
ReplyDeleteLiverpool can fuck off. and any other team that want Ashley Williams. Something special is happening at Swansea, I can feel it. Bigger team who think they can just plunder Swansea of their best players can go fuck themselves.
ReplyDeleteoh my Jamie... "truly dislikes" is all you got... damn you! Don't you remember Williams has since said that Suarez is a class player and he respects him. Do you have that mention anywhere in your article. If I were a 10 yr old Suarez fan what would it make me feel about Williams? Purely damn negative article.
ReplyDeletestay at swansea after what u said about suarez your not welcome your sh..
ReplyDeleteif he comes makes it easier for suarez to leave could happen fsg down grading and another rodgers love child
ReplyDelete12 mill??Who picked that price out of the air?He is probably worth his fantasy league price of 4.8 mill and even at that price we do not want him at LFC
ReplyDeletewe dont want anymore swasea players jim we av got the welsh xavi hahaha
ReplyDeleteAsh has a better chance of silverware if he stays where he is. As Michu said this week, Swansea isn't a bad place to be: the vibe at a fan-run club is different from that at a corporatised Yank-owned outfit.
ReplyDeleteI dont understand the negativity about Williams, is it because he isnt a fancy foreign player with a foreign name? When does ge make a mistake? He's in a team that play good football and just kept two clean sheets against Chelsea. That price is steep, but i suppose it would be to buy out the remainder of his contract.
ReplyDeleteagree but hes to old there is no profit in him so its a none starter
ReplyDeleteJudging by his ability from what I have seen, YES, i would love him at Liverpool. Judging by what you have written in your article, NO, I would not like him with Liverpool.
ReplyDeleteHow can I possibly have a clear, open-minded opinion about someone when my mind has been fed such influential labels. It's like saying, "What do you think of this mad man? Isn't he mad?". Compared to simply asking, "What do you think of this guy?".
you only want him cos all your defenders are crap.... copying swansea again eh!
ReplyDeleteGreat defender, strong, very good with feet and head, quick, and reads the game very well. I have watched him for three years at Swansea home matches; there is no better all round centre half in the league. He would be ideal for Liverpool. The Suarez issue was blown up by the press !. I can't understand why the supporters are not keen on him, its a great shame - he's like a young Carra !.
ReplyDeletedont worry, Suarez will be at Bayern by the summer
ReplyDeleteI don't believe he'd start over Agger or Skrtel.
ReplyDeleteWaste of money in my opinion. Especially if 12m is the number.
No more Swansea players. He is too old and no sale value. He hates Suarez, if Brendan respects LFC, he should not even mention about it. We don't want any arrogant player at LFC. If Brendan is so fascinated with Swansea players, he should go back there.
ReplyDeleteThanks, but no thanks.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have some inside knowledge about how the club is run that I truly don't have. Could it be that you have some mate working at the club or something?
ReplyDeleteas before lol
ReplyDeletesome say that he Jason carr is fergie in disguise while others think that he maybe the stig
ReplyDeletelol good one not the stig not even passed my test,but my posts get reactions because as your user name says the truth hurts
ReplyDeleteAll this negativity. We don't want him to anywhere but look back at your results against us and still say he isn't good enough!!! Brendan is a good coach and a nice guy, but tell him to sod off and leave Ash with us.
ReplyDeleteFSG Willy abandon the transfer anyway.Let us face the fact.FSG interupt the development of the team.If we are gonna be a team hunting for trophies again FSG will have to change.
ReplyDeleteyour jus a big dope jason carr
ReplyDeleteHes rubbish. If we are hoping to challenge the top 4 we need world class players not average players who will not take us forward. not impressed
ReplyDeleteI think he is a good player and he can pass it out the back, but we would be better off getting someone from the continent and not having to pay the British player premium.
ReplyDeleteWe really need a centre-half to organise the back four. That could make it slightly trickier getting in a foreigner, because if he can't speak English, it will be harder to organise.
I'd rather Shawcross.
ReplyDeleteI think this is what BR really meant when he said the team needs proven experience... so he goes back to his old team for players.
ReplyDeletetoo old,go for diame from west spam
ReplyDeletehe called suarez a cheat an said he dident like him thats why if your gonna say that to a great liverpool player then hes not welcome in my opinion
ReplyDeleteyour names not harry we know its you sir alex ferguson sorry to dissapoint you but hes staying at liverpool now get back to scotland an goin eat some porridge
ReplyDeletetheres better defenders out there for 8m tbh i dont think we need one at the minute since carrager is still a decent defender for cover in my opinion we wasted 25m on joe allen an fabio borini we need proven players they might be good at swansea but when u play for liverpool there is pressure that comes with it which some of these swansea players cant handle lets be honest joe allen what was all the fuss about anyone could do joe allens job at liverpool just passing the ball side ways as for borini i know he had a bad injury but even before that he was running rnd like a headless chicken i just dont see what they bring to the team 25m wasted in my opinion on a plus point sturridge looks a steal at 12m
ReplyDeleteI think we can get rid of the scouts. Buck seems to just want players he worked with before. Save some money FSG and sack the scouts.
ReplyDeleteJamie, u forgot he hug Suarez when the games is over and show he is already move on from that.
ReplyDeleteMats Hummell,Mehdi Benatia,Nicolas Ismat Mirin and Neven Subotic is the young players that LFC can sign in....why need Ashley William?He is getting older.Sebastian Coates is very special and briliant talent,but never been used with correctly.Now LFC want to waste for unnecessery player with 12 milion uero?So clever....
ReplyDeletei think footballer more or less like politician...today foe but tomolo will b fren.....who knows....
ReplyDeletemy pov : LFC need more leadership player coming in...i feel we short of player who goes argue with the ref....
We're not remotely interested in Ashley Williams, pointless article.
ReplyDeleteThat, to me, seems like such a girly reason to not want a player at the club. I'm sure thats something that can be forgot about. To be fair, Suarez used to dive quite a bit, he's bucked his ideas up and gets treated harshly, but he did. Williams is calling it how he saw it. I bet his opinions changed since the book.
ReplyDeleteWe may not. But Buck is.
ReplyDeleteLiverpool really need a defender that is going to put pressure on Skrtel and Agger for a place any less is a waste.
ReplyDeleteNo hes not. He brought ONE young player fomr Swansea who he deemed good enough for Liverpool, Joe Allen. Thats it, theres no evidence he'd go for a limited player like Williams. We're looking for young squad players from the continent like Forren, Astori, Diakite, Mirin etc.
ReplyDeleteNo more mid table players from Swansea at LFC. Enough is enough by having Joe Allen here. We need world class players to bring the club forward not sidewards or backwards. Hyppia is doing extremely well at Bayer Leverkusen, hope he will guide LFC soon. He is a Reds Legend and World Class.
ReplyDeleteHaha, you know you're becoming almost as much as a reason to visit this site as the articles themselves, for me anyway. Your "grumpy old man of football" viewpoint is one that I rarely agree with, although I do see the validity of some of your arguments, but it does get me thinking in a positive way "yeah, but..." and in these wavering times you help to keep me strong hahaha....
ReplyDeleteJason Carr, LFC's Grumpy Messiah ;) Good on ya!
How many world class players do you think will come to us? Right now we have to be looking for top 4 class players. Get top 4 then we can look at world class players. World class players are after money and/or CL football, we can offer none, right now. If we manage to get top 4 this year I suspect we will become an attractive option for world class players
ReplyDeletewell thank you find sir ;-)
ReplyDeleteJaimie when you write an article like this, it really makes me wonder about your morals. Williams kicked the ball into the back of RVP's head, it was obviously intentional and extremely dangerous, yet you want this filth at our club but hound Suarez. Is it just coincidence that this guy hates Suarez too?
ReplyDeleteSo, just because it was 'obviously intentional' to you then that makes it fact? Nonsense. Rodgers knows the guy, and his view is that it was unintentional. That's good enough for me.
ReplyDeleteAnd morals? Perhaps you should just concentrate on talking about football and drop the cod-psychoanalysis, eh?
The ref booked him for it too, Rodgers also said that Suarez doesn't dive, he knows him too, why was that not enough for you? Double standards.
ReplyDeletewhy offer skrtel and agger new contracts, and then knowing rodgers he will move one of them onto the bench to accomodate another one of his love children....... dont want him...
ReplyDeletecoates is WHAT . are u radio rental.or on day release from rampton! very special and brillant! got a nice white coat that ties round the back waiting for u!!
ReplyDeletetypical childish response-move with the times -ashley can play football,thats why you need him 12mil is too low-you can have our hot dog man for 4.8m he would get in somewhere
ReplyDeleteAm I missing the point but how does buying Williams clear the way for Suarez to leave? Is this a fsg thing to lower the fans expectations so they can turn us into a mid table team? Why would they do that? Champions league is where the money is.
ReplyDelete